National Rum Day NYC: Where To Celebrate With Specialty Cocktails

If you’ve got a desire for daiquiris, a penchant for piña coladas or a mania for mojitos, you’re in luck. Thursday is National Rum Day and bars around the city are mixing up rum drinks to celebrate.

MONARCH ROOFTOP LOUNGE

Bring a friend to this 18th floor rooftop lounge for $18 buy-one, get-one free mojitos in watermelon, mango or coconut flavor. If you prefer to go it alone, grab a $10 Coco-Lada on the rocks, Monarch’s version of a piña colada.

(71 W. 35th St., 212-630-9993)

THE POLYNESIAN

This new midtown tiki bar boasts the largest rum collection in the city. Its tropical-themed drinks include the Commodore Daiquiri with orgeat, a sweet syrup made from almonds, sugar, and rose water, ube (a purple yam) extract and tropical juices as well as Reggae Bus with chartreuse and saffron.

(400 W. 42nd St., 212-254-3000)

HANDCRAFT KITCHEN & COCKTAILS

This Kips Bay cocktail bar will offer $14 rum cocktails including the Endless Summer with 12-year El Dorado rum, Denizen white rum, banana liquor, blue curacao and lime juice. The House Punch with rum, mezcal, absinthe, pineapple and spices takes two weeks to make, so get it while it lasts.

(367 3rd Ave., 212-689-3000)

DIWINE RESTAURANT & WINE BAR

For an affordable fix, head out to DiWine in Astoria and order a $12 craft cocktail. Literature buffs should opt for the Hemingway Daiquiri with white rum, lime juice, grapefruit juice and maraschino liqueur. As an alternative, try the Hamilton with sweet vermouth and bitters — you might call it “bittersweet.”

If you forget to celebrate on Thursday, rush to Refinery Rooftop after work on Friday, Aug. 17, for your chance to score a free boozy treat. The first 50 customers to arrive after 5 p.m. will receive free pina colada strawberry daiquiri swirl sundaes spiked with Malibu rum, the result of a collaboration with liquor-infused ice cream brand Tipsy Scoop.

(63 W. 38th St., 646-664-0310)

PILAR CUBAN EATERY

This Bed-Stuy restaurant offers rum from 10 different Caribbean and Latin American countries. For a true Cuban experience, try a saoco — rum of your choice with coconut water and lime. The rum-focused cocktail menu features an Aniversario Old Fashioned, which swaps the traditional whiskey with rum, as well as a three-rum mojito with rum from Venezuela, Guyana and Martinique.

(397 Greene Ave., Bed-Stuy, 718-623-2822)

THE RUM HOUSE

The swanky cocktail bar The Rum House is the perfect place to head after a Broadway show. The bar is celebrating its namesake holiday with happy hour deals from noon to 4 a.m. and a special cocktail menu with rum punch, daiquiris and more, all for $10.